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A bit of biographical background may be helpful before we begin. Last week, we left Abraham and his son Isaac on the mountaintop where God spared the boy by commanding Abraham to ?stand down.? ?Now I know that you fear me because you did not withhold your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love.?
Isaac would grow up and marry a woman named Rebecca. And Rebecca would give birth to twin boys. The first one out was a hairy guy. And so, in a day when parents choose a name for their child after it was born and the name would have something to say about the child, they named him ? Esau. Esau means ?hairy.?
The second one came right behind the first. In fact, he was holding onto his brother?s heel as if he was trying to pull him back inside so he might be the first one out. His parents named this one ? Jacob. Literally, ?one who grasps the heel.? Which is a figurative way of saying, ?this one?s a real deceiver.?
It may not seem like a big deal which twin brother comes out first ? but in the ancient middle-eastern world, the legal ramifications were significant. The firstborn son was entitled to 2/3 of the estate which mom and dad would leave behind when they died. All the other sons together would divide up the remaining 1/3. The daughters had to hope they?d meet a nice doctor or lawyer to marry.
The bible doesn?t say how long Esau was when he was born, but Jacob came that close to nabbing the firstborn birthright. I suppose that after wrestling for position for nine months and loosing by the length of a newborn baby ? second place might be pretty disappointing.
Most 2nd born twins would just accept the fact and get on with their life. But not Jacob. He continued to wrestle Esau for 1st born status ? even after the race to the finish line was over. One day while Esau was out rabbit hunting, Jacob was back home cooking some chili. Esau came home famished and asked his brother for some of his ?bean stew.? Jacob said, ?first, sell me your birthright.? And Esau agreed. ?Look, I am about to die, what good is a birthright to me.? And Jacob gave his older brother some chili and Esau gave his younger brother his birthright under oath.
There was yet one more deception for Jacob to pull off. He had to get his father to ratify the deal ? something Isaac had no interest in. One day, when Isaac was old and blind and close to death, he called Esau into his tent and told him he wanted to establish the terms of his will so that when he was dead there would be no misunderstanding as to who got the firstborn share of the inheritance. He told Esau to go hunting and make a batch of that rabbit stew he liked. While Esau was out hunting, Jacob dressed up like his brother and with the help of his mother, deceived his blind father into thinking that he is Esau. And Isaac gave the blessing of the firstborn son to Jacob.
Jacob deceived his brother and his father and if you think that doesn?t make things a little tense at home ? then you must have raised by wolves in the forest. The official record states, ?Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, ?the days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.?? (Gen.27:41).
Isaac and Rebecca see what?s coming and they both agree that Jacob?s got to go before all ?you know what? breaks loose. And so they send Jacob to live with uncle Laban who lives in Haran – a safe distance away. Besides, uncle Laban?s got a few daughters. Jacob?s told to marry one of them. They?re good Lutheran girls ? LCMS. Stay away from those ELCA girls. ?Who knows. Maybe a good wife can straighten you out.?
?So Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.? So there lies Jacob. And given Jacob?s biography, we wonder which was harder ? the rock or Jacob?s head.
What a strange turn of events this is for Jacob. He had the birthright and the blessing ? just what he strove for all his life. Yet here he was with nothing and on the run ? in exile. And Esau was back at home with everything ? enjoying life. Someone once said that there is no greater disappointment in life than to get what you have wanted all your life and then discover that you?re still just as dissatisfied as you were. We can relate to that. We strive for money and possessions or position and power or a little peace and quite, and then when we get it ? we discover ? this isn?t the answer we thought it was. We?re no more content with our life than we were. A terrible disappointment.
Given Jacob?s background, we?d be surprised if God were able to use a person like this. Or that God would be interested in using a person like this. But, lo and behold, that?s just what happens. Jacob slept and in his sleep God spoke to Jacob through a dream. The dream was of ?a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!?
A strange dream ? but then again, dreams tend to be rather strange. You wake up from a dream you can remember and you think to yourself, ?now what made me dream of that.? And usually your safe to chalk it up to the nachos and jalapeno cheese dip you ate right before bed time. But when dreams are recorded in the scriptures, these are not to be understood as the effects of the digestive system on the brain but of God speaking to the dreamer.
And to this deceiving dreamer, God gives an inheritance such that Jacob never dreamed of having. ?I am the Lord, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east and to the north and the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.?
What remarkably gracious words these are. All of his life, Jacob strove to attain Esau?s inheritance. And here is God bestowing an inheritance upon Jacob that makes everything Jacob had dedicated his life to attaining seem like nothing, less than nothing, indeed a positive impediment when compared to what God was giving him. And for this, Jacob does nothing. No striving, no wrestling. Not by his worthiness or merit. ?It is by grace alone, not by works lest anyone should boast.? (Eph. 2).
What is it that you?re striving to attain in your life? What is it that you think, if you only had it, you?d be really content and satisfied? Consider Jacob.
Think for just a moment what God has given you. In your baptism, God has given you ? ?an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you?? (1Peter 1:4). Through the hearing of His Word, God has given you His Holy Spirit as a ?deposit of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.? (Ephesians 1:18). With His Supper, He gives you a participation in the body and blood of Christ through whom ?you? share in the inheritance of the saints in light.? He has set you on His right side and He says to you, ?Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.? (Mat.25:34). He has given you the inheritance and blessing of Jacob.
Here is where true contentment and satisfaction in life comes from. This is the basis for real joy and peace in your life. When we are able to grasp with the hand of faith this inheritance that is ours in Christ ? then we may count everything else a loss compared to the surpassing greatness what we have been given. Let sufferings come. In fact, we?re willing to suffer for the good of others and for what is right. In fact, ?rejoice in our sufferings because suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope and hope does not put us to shame because God?s love has been poured out in our hearts through His Holy Spirit who has been given to us.? (Romans 5:3-5). In other words, when we grasp this inheritance that is our in Christ, then all things work for good ? because we know our destiny and we know that no one can take it away from us.
So, ?set your mind on the things of God.? ?Set you mind on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. .? (Col.3:1-2) Not on the things that Jacob had his mind set on. For, ?what does it profit a man to gain the whole world yet forfeit his life?? (Mark 8:36).
All of this came from God to Jacob in a dream. But for you and me God does much better. St. Peter reminds us, ?We have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention?? (2Peter 1:19). ?More sure? than dreams is God?s Word that comes to you in physical, earthly elements – concretely spoken into your ears, wettingly washed over your head, tangibly placed into your hand and onto your lips and tongue. These ?sacraments of certainty? are so much ?more sure? than dreams and visions and signs and wonders.
Jacob?s dream was of a ladder ?set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven.? I know that we find it kind of fun to interpret our dreams. Sometimes, the interpretations can be real doozies. It?s a real doozy to interpret this dream as God lowering a ladder down to Jacob so he can climb up to heaven. Some lyrics to an old bluegrass song go, ?I am climbing Jacob?s ladder.? It?s a real doozy.
It?s always ?more sure? to let the scriptures interpret the scriptures. Jesus interprets Jacob?s dream for us. One day Jesus met a man named Nathanael. Like Jacob, Nathanael had hard head. ?Can anything good come out of Nazareth?? he asked. But Jesus says, ?behold, an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.? Literally, an Israelite in whom there is no Jacob. And then Jesus says to Nathanael, ?truly, truly I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.? (John 1:51). Jesus interprets Jacob?s dream informing us that the ladder is none other than Himself.
It is Jesus who bridges the expanse between heaven and earth and there is no other way to get from earth to heaven but Jesus.
Jesus is the 1st born of the Father. And all of the Father?s inheritance has been given to Him. He came down that ladder from heaven to earth, not to wrestle with you, but to be your brother and share His inheritance with you.
Though there was no deceit in Him, He became the Jacob in all of us. He bore our deceit and our deception all the way to the cross and made atonement for it. And then, being the true Jacob that He was, He laid his head on the stone in the tomb and slept. And on the third day He awoke. And because of His death sleep, you too will awake from your death. You?ll awake to receive the inheritance that is yours along with Jacob and all the company of heaven. ?For hope does not disappoint us because God?s love has been poured out in our hearts through His Holy Spirit who has been given to us.?